Back from the Brink
by Nipah-chan
Summary: Emmy has been told by the Professor to go and visit Clive in prison. But Clive still hasn't recovered from his ordeals and often goes too far, will Emmy be able to help him?


Clive sat motionless on the slat bed that stuck out from the wall. It was the very picture of a proper English prison and unfortunately for Clive it was worse for him than most. He had been sentenced to life imprisonment and because of his age the judge had thought it better for him to be put in a cell by himself. He, in other words, never met another living soul. Or at least, not in the way he wanted to. There were guards who delivered him food or who accompanied him to whatever he may be doing that day but on the whole he had anyone to speak to.

Officially he got one visiting hour a week, but who would have wanted to visit him? Professor Layton did come once or twice but he wasn't much of a conversationalist. The professor would give Clive the latest news about London and maybe a puzzle or two and then he would leave. No one else cared enough to bother… not even Cogg and Spring. But then, after the atrocities that he had committed he really couldn't blame them for not wanting any association to him.

And this was why Clive was very surprised when a guard opened the door and said "There's a visitor here for you". Clive looked up, keeping the same bored expression that he had used for so long on his face. He allowed his hair that had now grown much longer to fall across his face. The prison didn't really care about keeping the convicts hair cut short. Then he stood up and allowed himself to be escorted from his cell. It was probably just Professor Layton, no need to be in any great rush. Seeing the professor always made Clive feel beyond guilty, and it only got worse when the professor would start talking about Luke and Flora. So Clive was in no rush to get to the meeting room. And it was a rather long walk. He had long since given up trying to initiate conversation with any of the guards but this one seemed particularly eager to talk. He was talking about the weather, but Clive gruffly ignored him. _Just let this day be over already_ - he thought in exasperation. As if the weather mattered to him, he never went outside – let alone saw the weather.

"Here we are then, right through here – take as long as you want" encouraged the guard. Clive only thought angrily, I only get an hour at most! And of course he knows it… But he kept his face neutral and prepared his defence system for seeing the professor. The moment he stepped into the small room he knew something was up. The room actually smelt nice. It smelled like - what was that smell – Clive recognised it, but it had been so long. _Flowers_, he decided_. It smelt like flowers._

He walked towards where he knew the table was and saw a bright yellow coat. It was all he could focus on for a good few moments, the smell of flowers and the bright cheery colour didn't match his mood at all and he felt like he was going to faint. Then the young girl spun around on her chair and faced him. "Hello Clive" she called, as if she hadn't a care in the world.

It was a girl. It wasn't the professor - it was a woman. In fact, it was a grown woman. And she was a beautiful grown woman. Clive smiled for the first time in what seemed like a long time. She had beautiful brown wavy hair and her clothes were small and cute and suited her perfectly.

"…Hello" said Clive, not really sure what was going on. "What are you doing here?" he asked quickly. And then he cursed himself, he would have just sounded so hostile right then. _What must she think of him? Some crazed lunatic who hates everyone… but then that does sound like a pretty accurate description of me…_

But then she only tipped her head back and laughed "Oh, the professor sent me" she said still in a light hearted voice. Clive tried not to stare at her perfectly formed lips that only moved a fraction as she spoke.

"Oh… is that so?" said Clive hurriedly. He felt so tongue twisted, he blamed his lack of human interaction… and that she was very pretty…

"Yes, it is so. Come on, sit down. I'll tell you my story if you'll tell yours" she said and gestured to the chair opposite her. Clive went and sat down opposite her then.

"I'd rather not tell my story" he stated.

"Go on" she dared. So Clive did tell her, but he got rather carried away. He was dancing around like a madman and gave the woman the last puzzle he had given to Professor Layton, "which tile?" He didn't notice when she solved it easily, he was far too caught up in his dramatic performance to care about her anymore. It was as if she had disappeared. He was standing on his chair yelling "No! It must not end this way! It can't end this way!" when the girl jumped up and knocked him to the ground. She pinned him there by her foot to on his neck.

"If that's what you end up doing every time you think back to what you did, you need some serious help" commented the girl while Clive was still getting his breath back. He'd blown it now. He shouldn't have accepted to telling her his story, he always got carried away. He felt like wrapping himself into a ball and crying, but he still had half an hour of this visiting hour left. Maybe he could try and repair this… maybe he could prove to this young woman that he was not as insane as he sounded. But even as he thought this he knew there was no way he could ever recover.

The woman slowly released her foot and allowed Clive some breathing room for a few moments. "What's your name?" he asked, when he sat up again. He wanted to turn all attention from him and the fit he had just experienced.

"Emmy, my name's Emmy Altava"

"Well, thank you Emmy… for stopping me. But I…"

"Shh" she scolded, as if Clive were only 5 "It's not your fault, we can find you some help and you'll be able to recover"

Clive only shook his head sadly "Take my word for it, they've tried. But every time I think back to it… that god-cursed day! And my machine breaking! And it just-!"

"Shh. Right this instant" commanded Emmy. Clive did as he was told. "Then we'll just avoid that subject"

"Okay…" he said, though he still felt lost in his memories. "How did you come to be here?" he asked, to change the path that his thoughts were going. He hated feeling that malice towards the professor. Although he was very glad that the professor had stopped him, in those moments he felt like he wished the professor hadn't.

"The professor had been meaning to check up on you for a little while now" she started, Clive coughed – he seriously doubted it. "But he had a lot of marking to do; it's the busy season at the university you see. He got in contact with me and told me to come here on this date and this time"

"How did you meet the professor then?" he asked, at least they weren't talking about him or his little "episode".

"I was accused of stealing a boy's wallet, but I didn't really. It was Professor Layton that persuaded them I hadn't stolen it. I spent a long time to get to the position where I could be his assistant, and I was for a while-"

"What happened then?"

"Oh, the normal. I had other things to do, and so did he" she trailed off then. "Now!" she half yelled - which gave Clive such a start he jumped slightly. "What does the Professor normally do here?"

"Nothing interesting…" mumbled Clive.

"Nothing at all?" enquired Emmy.

"Well… he might give me a puzzle or two" said Clive in an off-hand manor.

"So you're a puzzle fanatic?"

"Sometimes" shrugged Clive.

"Well come here right this instant! See here, I just can't solve it. It's only small puzzle, but for some reason it's just beyond me" Emmy pulled Clive to his feet and showed him a scrap of paper.

"0.14, 0.42, 1.26 …. What's the next number?" Clive read out loud. "Well…" he thought about it for a moment or two… "The next number has to be 3.78. The numbers are multiplied by 3 each time"

Emmy took the piece of paper from Clive and looked at it for a few moments herself. "I've never been much good with maths, but this makes sense now. Thanks Clive!" she chimed. Clive felt his cheeks start to turn red.

"Do you have any puzzles for me?" asked Emmy.

"Well… no… not really"

"You've been in prison for five years and you somehow haven't had the time to think up a puzzle for a lady!" Emmy teased.

"Well uh…"

"You've got to know something!" she continued.

"I do know one – but it's pretty bad. Oh well, here goes: A man is building a house with all sides having a southern exposure. A bear come wandering by – what colour is the bear?"

Emmy's face changed as she started to concentrate. "all sides southern exposure… bear…" she mumbled to herself. "What does a bear have anything to do with this?" she asked, confused.

"It seems easy once you know the answer" was all that Clive said. He was enjoying the fact that Emmy couldn't solve his puzzle.

"No, wait. I've got it! It's a white bear! Because the man is building his house on the north pole"

"Correct!" cheered Clive.

"That wasn't so bad" said Emmy with a teasing smile.

Clive was about to say something else when the guard opened the door. "Visiting time's up, Miss Dove" said the guard.

"Miss Dove?" asked Clive, he was secretly wishing that Emmy had pretended to be his wife or something… Emmy went up and hugged him so she could whisper "I had to say I was your sister to get let in here". Then Emmy picked up her yellow coat and left with the guard. Clive only got a few seconds before another guard had come to take him away as well.

"How was your sister?" asked the talkative guard.

"Good enough" murmured Clive. _His sister… I hope she won't always be my sister. What a way to be friend-zoned…_

The guard smiled, Clive was talking to him. This didn't happen very often. This Emmy woman had definitely put him in a better mood, even if it wasn't that evident from his expression.

**I don't think I'll make this any longer. But I might… Well until then, please let me know what you think! Any constructive criticism appreciated. I read A Dove is Just a Posh Pigeon by Samcybercat and I wanted to write a fanfic about Clive… So I tried to put forward as much of his insanity as possible… I don't really know if I got it right. Does he seem insane enough?**


End file.
